Early
childhood activities for teaching preschool and kindergarten children
pre math, science, and creative skills. Seasonal activity plans plus easy
cooking ideas to use in the classroom. When
you want to return to the first page of the Summer Theme, this
arrow
will take you there. The schoolhouse will take you to Activity Central.

Preschool Activities
for Summer

Picnics and BarbecueJasmine W. offers this preschool
curriculum activity plan saying the objectives are, "To talk about the
different types of food that are appropriate for a picnic. To learn about
the different tools that adults use for a barbecue. To learn what foods
can be put on a grill. To learn what items are needed for a picnic."

Description:Large Group Activity:
During large group time, bring in a picnic basket and ask children what they think
the basket is for? Ask what they think is inside the basket?
Then select a few children, one at time, to pick out something e.g. paper
plates, cups, forks, spoons, ketchup, napkins, blanket, pictures of food
appropriate for a picnic, etc. from the basket and talk about the items.Art Activity:
Ketchup and Mustard bottle painting: Fill ketchup bottle with thick red
tempera paint and mustard bottle with thick yellow tempera paint.
Let children create their own designs or drawings on construction paper.Art Activity:
Collage of picnic items. Nutrition
/ Math: Tasting different types of barbecue sauce. Children
dip bite size cucumbers or celery into the different sauces and tell which
which sauce they like best. Chart children's responses on a experience
chart. Discuss which sauce has the most responses, which the least and
why.Flannel Board Fun:
Summer Days (Reference: The Best of Totline Flannel Boards, page 270).

A Picnic, Hurray! by Franz
Brandenberg

Barbar's Picnic by
Laurent deBrunhoff

Game: Going On
VacationDuring this early childhood
game by Arline, youngsters use coordination skills and follow instructions.

Description:
Let the children know that you will be taking a pretend trip all week.
The first thing that you have to do when you go on a trip is to pack everything
you need. Let the children tell you what they would pack.
After you have discussed this, bring out your two pre packed suitcases.
Show the children what you have packed.Now it is time for
the game.Have the children divide into
two teams. Have half of each team go to one side of the room and
the other half of each team go to the opposite side of the room.
Tell the children that what they are about to play is a "relay race".
The first time they play you will have to constantly instruct them what
to do.The first child of each
team is handed the suitcase. He or she will put on everything that
is in the suitcase and then run with the suitcase to their teammates on
the other side of the room. He or she will take off the suitcase
clothing only,
and give them to their team mate to put on. Continue this until the last
player puts on the clothes, runs to the other side of the room and packs
the suitcase. The first team to finish wins.

Bulletin
Board Idea: SeaweedTeachers create a sense of seaweed in the
classroom with this idea from Lynn P. A wonderful addition to a
Ocean or Sea Theme.

Materials:
2 or 3 inch wide green ribbon and a ribbon shredder.

Description:
I used this idea in two ways. On my bulletin board I put blue paper.
Then I run a strip of the ribbon from the top to the bottom for length.
Before I attached it, I shredded sections of it leaving about a three
inch gap between each section. Attach it to your bulletin board.
As you do your art projects associated with the ocean you can mount them
on this bulletin board with part of the fish, lobster, whale etc. nestled
amongst the seaweed.

If you make aquariums, or
fish pictures, you can cut two or three inch long pieces of the ribbon
and shred it. Then divide into one inch sections and provide as
a selection for the kids to use on their pictures.

Ask children if they have ever been to the
beach and what they did there. Show pictures or magazine photos of
people at the beach and ask what do they think the people in the pictures
are doing? Share the beach props and encourage children to talk about them
by asking, "Who knows what this is? What could you do with it?"
Allow children time to touch and explore each items.

In the dramatic play corner spread out the beach
towels and props and silently observe how the preschool children use the
materials. If the children need help getting started you might ask,
"What things can we pack to go on our picnic? What foods would you
want to prepare or take? The children may want to extend the activity
into another area (block area etc.) to have their beach picnic.
The children might want to move the sand table to their picnic site. This
is a great indoor activity to try on a rainy summer's day. On a
warm day this activity is terrific outdoors.

Science:
Colored Ice CubesYoung children explore mixing colors and making
observations during this early childhood activity by Kristen L.

Description: Tint the
water with food coloring and freeze to make one tray of red ice cubes,
one tray of yellow and one tray of blue. Place three clear plastic
glasses on the science table and put a different colored ice cube into
each glass. Periodically, have the children observe as the ice changes
to colored water.

Then place a red ice cube and a yellow ice
cube together in another glass and have the children observe as the ice
melts and creates orange. Repeat the process using a blue and a
yellow ice cube to make green and a red and a blue ice cubeto make purple. Then let the children
use the remaining colored ice cubes to set up their own color experiments.

Bubble PrintsExpand pre-school and kindergarten
children's knowledge of how bubbles form and what ingredients are needed
to make bubbles during this activity by Marin F. Have fun
too!

Description:1. First fill 3-4 cups about
3/4 full with water,2. Add dish soap (needs quite
a bit),3. Add a few drops of food
coloring to each one,4. Ask children to take a straw
and put it into the bubble solution,instruct them to BLOW not suck
or they'll get a yucky surprisein their mouth. Ask them
to blow until the bubbles are coming upover the top of the cup,5. Ask them to lay their paper
over the cup and the bubbles will popleaving a beautiful design
on the paper.6. Cover the entire paper
with designs and hang around the roomfor others to enjoy!

Comments:
Make sure to lay newspaper or plastic under where you will be blowing
bubbles to help catch spills.

Description: Teachers fill
the sensory table with potting soil and add the plastic worms, bugs, and
rocks. Have 2 children at the sensory table with digging tools to search
for bugs and worms. The kids will love playing in the dirt and seeing
what kinds of insects they can find. Comments: Your kids will love
it!

Description:1. Add sugar and milk
to the small resealable bag. Taste the solution.
Let out some of the air as you zip to seal. Seal this bag inside
another sandwich bag.2. Place ice cubes in the bottom
of the big bag. Add the small bag of milk
and surround with more ice cubes. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of salt
over the ice. let out some of the air as you zip to seal.3. Wrap a towel around the
bag of ice. Place the bundle into a plastic shopping
bag and seal with a twist tie.4. Shake the bag for about
15 minutes. Remove the small bag and quickly
rinse off the salt with cold water.Did the milk change?
The ice cream you made is ready to enjoy!

Comments:
You probably noticed that ice cream from your bag freezeris soft and light. Why?
The shaking adds air to the ice cream.Machines keep the ice cream
you buy moving as it freezes, sothere's enough air to make
it soft enough to eat with a spoon.

Fun and Easy
Cool Cooking

These cooking summer activities don't require
heat and make healthy snacks. Use ripe fruits and encourage pre-k children
to do the peeling, cutting and mixing.

Summer StrawberriesWash thoroughly, and drain enough for each
child to have 3 or 4. Leave stems on for holding. Dip in powdered
sugar, granulated sugar, orange juice or other fruit juice, whipping cream
or cinnamon and sugar mixed. Don't forget to plant some whole strawberries
with their seeds in a pot, 1/2inch below the surface
of the soil, if you keep the soil moist, they may grow.

Cool Fruit ShakesUse any very ripe summer fruit, children
peeling it if necessary. Blend in the blender with an equal amount of milk,
adding honey or sugar (to taste). crushed ice, and vanilla or almond extract
(to taste). When you use 1/2 cup fruit, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 ice cubes,
the yield is 12 ounces. A preschool child's serving is 3 or 4 ounces.

Fun Fruit SaladAny number of varieties of fruit can be
mixed in this easy salad. Just make sure children cut the larger
fruits into bite size chunks (peeled if the skin is tough or too dirty
to clean), and dip the pieces into orange or lemon juice to prevent darkening.
Any fruit juice makes an easy and simple dressing if you pour it on, a
tablespoon full at a time, till the salad is moistened. Make enough
to serve each child 1/4 cup.

For more cool
cooking ideas go the Food & Nutrition
Theme in the Resource
Room

Water Painting For this lesson plan pre-k children use
fine and gross motor skills, language skills and the science skills of
observation experimentation and evaluation. The concept of evaporation
is explored.

You will need:Water, plastic containers for transporting
water and easel paint brushes in a variety of sizes. Smocks or old
shirts for the children and a hot sunny day.

Teachers explain to the children that, "Today
we are going outside to paint with water." Encourage them to gather
the smocks, paint brushes and containers for carrying the water. Once outside
the sidewalk, pavement or the side of a building can become the canvas
for a class mural.

Give the pre-k children time to experiment with
painting on the different outdoor textures using brushes of various sizes.
Help children notice what happens to their pictures as the water evaporates,
"What's happening to your picture? Where did the water go?"Extension: A Friend
of the Preschool Rainbow agrees that this is a wonderful activity and
writes: "You will need 1 or 2 buckets of water, 1 large paint brush per
child...it won't matter if they get water on their clothes (it dries)
and this is a great way to cool down on a hot summer day!

End of the Summer
BookThis preschool curriculum idea
by Kristin B. can be used at the end of any season to encourage
youngsters to recall what they liked best and to develop creative skills.

Description:
First, Write on a piece of construction paper, "What I Liked Best About
My Summer". Then ask each child what was the best thing about their
summer and have them draw a picture of this event. Gather all the
drawings together and form a book out of them.

Comments:
Be sure to ask the children this question individually. They tend to "copy"
one another and then you get 10 children with the same answer all drawing
the same thing,